“SLIMMING” BY DIET

Taranaki Daily News, 15 September 1934, Page 18 (Supplement)

“SLIMMING” BY DIET

RECOMMENDED MENUS. DISHES TO BE AVOIDED. “Slimming” diets are often arranged to cut out all fats, but this is not to be recommended. Certain fats contain valuable vitamins, and we must retain them. Bacon, lard and olive oil which do not contain these vitamins, may be cut out, but their place should be taken by small doses of cod-liver oil or hali-but-liver oil. A certain amount of fat is necessary for the body, for it has a high fuel value, but fried fats should be avoided so far as possible. It has been said that there would be much less stomach trouble to-day if all foods fried in meat fat were avoided, butter or margarine being used instead for the cooking. FOODS TO AVOID. ,z Sugar, jams, sweets, chocolates, honey, and nuts must be ruled out in planning a “slimming” diet, and tea should be taken without milk or sugar, a slice of lemon being sustituted' for them. Bananas should be replaced by apples or oranges on every possible occasion. Potatoes may,be taken in moderation; bo may cheese and eggs. Cod, halibut and whiting are rich in protein—what the body requires more than anything else—but very low in fat. Salmon and herring contain twenty times as much fat as whiting, cod, or halibut, and for this reason the former should be avoided. The ordinary lean meats, beef, mutton and veal, contain on an average less than 5 per cent, of fat, but ham and bacon contain as much as 50 per cent. With this information it will be easy to decide what to eat and what to avoid. Bacon contains no vitamins, is poor in protein, but may contain as much as 66 per cent, of fat. It should find no place in the diet of the woman who wishes to get slim. It is a mistake to think that biscuits and toast are better than bread, being less fattening. Biscuits frequently contain as much as 75 per cent, of starch—nearly twice as much as bread. The reason is that there is much more water in bread than in biscuits or toast. Weight for weight, then, biscuits are twice as fattening as bread, and they may contain sugar, which should be avoided. FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. Eat freely of all fresh fruits, but avoid bananas and dried fruits. All vegetables may be included in the diet, but potatoes and beans in moderation. Duck and goose are anything but “slimming” but rabbit, hare, chicken and turkey may be freely eaten, since their protein content is high and fat content very low. Milk is 90 per cent, water, practically, and its fat content is 31 per cent., on the average. In all slimming diets, the consumption of liquid should be kept low—not more than two pints in 24 hours. In one famous system of dieting, seven ounces of skimmed milk, is given per day, since the fat is reduced to one-tenth that of ordinary milk. A very small piece of cheese, and half a pint of water might well replace this milk. If the quantity of fluid be restricted to two pints per day, and that allows for three or four cups of weak tea with lemon, it leaves practically no margin for milk in the diet. Skimmed milk might as well be replaced with water, and if bread is eaten in moderation, the butter on it will provide enough fat without bringing milk into the diet.